Ahmad Martadha Mohamed Correlational Analysis Between€¦ · Social Business Model and Women Entrepreneurs Empowerment ABSTRACT In most developed countries, social entrepreneur-ship

of preparing financing opportunities to these entrepreneurs; and (3)among the main issues faced by women-entrepreneurs lie in the repay-ment method, insufficient capital, lack of relevant trainingentrepreneurtoincrease skills and the lack of mentor system. The outcome of this studyis anticipated to be able to improve the policy of entrepreneur develop-ment, especially increasing the number of women inthe fieldofentrepreneurship. Apart from that, there are several criticial issues thatneed to be addressed by the government such as the need to coordinateinstitutions that offer micro-credit funding scheme, also the need to havea more transparent decision-making process in the distribution offinancingallocation.KEYWORDS: social entrepreneurship model, micro-credit financingscheme, women-entrepreneurs

INTRODUCTIONSocial Entrepreneurshipis seen as a proactive effort by

the government, private agencies and non-governmental

organisations (NGO) to encourage entrepreneurship

development among the community that gives various

implications in terms of the national economy, social and

politics (Wang, 2012). Generally, entrepreneurshipis able to

increase national economic growth, contribute to the Gross

National Income through job opportunities and at the

same time reduce the national poverty rates. In third world

countries such as Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kenya, Nepal,

Pakistan, Malaysia they have adopted the

Ahmad Martadha MohamedAssociate Professor,School of Government,College of Law

Government and International Studies, Universiti UtaraMalaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah

Halimah Abdul ManafPensyarah Kanan,Pusat Pengajian Kerajaan, Kolej Undang-

undang, Kerajaan dan Pengajian Antrabangsa,UniversitiUtara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Faks:049287914,

Email: [email protected], T:049287924Siti Noor Shamilah Misnan

Pensyarah,Pusat Pengajian Kerajaan, Kolej Undang-undang,Kerajaan dan Pengajian Antrabangsa,Universiti Utara

Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah

Correlational Analysis BetweenSocial Business Model and WomenEntrepreneurs Empowerment

ABSTRACTIn most developed countries, social entrepreneur-ship has strived to become an effective mechanismin inculcating skills ofentrepreneurship, especiallyamong women. In these countries, social entrepre-neurship has become the main policy used as partof the poverty eradication strategies. Based on thisfoundation, this paper work is formed with the aimto study the effect of the micro-credit financing ofthe AIM in creating a strong line of women-entre-preneurs. In particular, it seeks to(1) explore the cur-rent social entrepreneurship modelwhich usesAIM’smicro-credit financing scheme, (2) evaluate the ef-fectiveness of the AIM micro-credit financingschemetowards women-entrepreneurs; and (3)manalyse the challenges and obstacles that are of-ten faced by women entrepreneurs in relation to thecurrent AIM micro-credit financing scheme. Thestudy methodology involves the distribution of sur-veys to 1500 members of theAIM micro-credit fi-nancing schemethroughout Malaysia. As many as1101 respondents had returned the survey forms,making the return rate 73%. The study findings wereanalysed using the descriptive statistics involving fre-quency, percentage and mean. The findings haveshown that (1) AIM micro-credit financing schemehassuccessfully generated many women-entrepreneursespecially in rural areas; (2) the exist-ing government policies are deemed sufficient in terms

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89Journal of Government and Politics Vol.6 No.1 February 2015

socialentrepreneurshipapproach as a measure by

the governments to elevate the commuity’s status

of living.

According toSyed dan Xavier (2012),

entrepreneurshipgives a great impact to the local

economy and eradication of poverty by boosting

the emergence of job opportunities, increase

wealth and income, and finally help contribute to

the greater global economy. Entrepreneursalso

have the capability to stimulate the economy

through innovations that lead to the economic

growth and development.In Kenya, for

example,entrepreneurshiphas produced innova-

tion, by giving the opportunities to women to get

involved at a higher level in the labour market by

drawing in investments from abroad able to create

jobs and economic development(Harding dan

Harding, 2008).

One of the efforts through thesocial entrepre-

neurship is to introduce the microcredit financing

scheme programme. Originally, this scheme was

founded to bridge the gap of capital financing

between rural operations and commercial banks. It

is a measure to lay out small-scale loans and accept

small-scale deposit savings. According to Otero

(1999), the micro-credit scheme gives access to

capital, enabling the poor who are self-employed to

get productive capital, adress risks and prevent

themselves from losing their capital. This scheme

is an effort to build assets and create wealth among

the poor and the very poor.

In Malaysia, among the poverty development

programmes which focus on helping the very poor

people are YayasanBasmiKemiskinanand Amanah

Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM). AIMis a very aggressive

agency in in providing financial assistance to

approximately82% from the total poor and very

poor households in Malaysia. AIM is also the

institution that offers the largest and the longest-

standing micro-credit financing schemein Malaysia.

AIM uses GrameenBank(a micro-financing estab-

lishment in Bangladesh) as a model in preparing

the credit scheme without security to these two

types of households in order to improve their

socio-economic status.

Micro-credit financing scheme institutions all

over the world including AIM, work towards

reducing the rates of poverty by establishing a

working model expected to increase the net value

of commercial assets owned by very poor house-

holds. If we are talking about the largest AIM

borrowers, they are women, constituting 90% of

the total number of borrowers.

Such a great percentage of women-borrowers is

in line with the intention to empower women in

theMillennium Development Goal(MDG). MDGhas

been constructed by the United Nations to encour-

age gender equality and empower women all over

the world. This aim has become an indicator to

monitor the total number of women involved in

non-agricultural sectors (World Bank, 2006). The

implications lie in gender equality and women

empowerment which become fundamental in

making poverty development more formidable.

One of the ways to makewomen more productive

is through entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship

has the potential to increase the number of

women working in non-agricultural sectors. Global

Entrepreneurship Monitor(GEM) has shown that the

increase in the number of women-entrepreneurs

involved in starting new businesses and expand the

existing businesses is vital for the long-term eco-

nomic growth of a country (Kelly,

Bosma&Amoros, 2010).


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BACKGROUNDThis study is done based on several measures

adopted by the government, the private agencies

and NGOs in reducing poverty rates also creating

equality in the economic achievement between the

people, especially in developing countries. Among

the countries that are working on reducing the

poverty rates and increasing the life status aggres-

sively is Malaysia. One of the strategies adopted is

through the field ofentrepreneurship. In

Malaysia,the main issue that is being debated

relates to the low rate of involvement ofthe

bumiputera inentrepreneurshipand the failure to

achieve the New Economic Policy (DEB) target,

which places Bumiputera equity ownership of 30%.

Based on the current achievement of up toRMK-

10, the Bumiputera corporate equity ownership is

as follows (TERAJU):

i. Bumiputera ownership at the capital shares was

at 21.9% in 2008 as compared to 19.3% in 1990

showing that there is no relative change and the

target of 30% stipulated in the NEP is still not

fulfilled.

ii. Most Bumiputera corporate equity ownerships

are in the field that has a low value towards the

National GDNP such as the construction sector

36.4% but the contribution of this sector to the

GDNP isonly 3.3%. Conversely, the Bumiputera

ownership in the manufacturing sector was only

11.3% compared to its contribution to the

GDNP which was 26.6%.

iii. The majority of Bumiputera industries are

micro-scale and small scale such as 42%

Bumiputeraentrepreneurbusinesses have less

than 5 workers, while 21% have 5 to 50 work-

ers;

There are several factors that have been identi-

fied by the Malaysian government serving as

obstacles to the engagement of Bumiputera

entrepreneurssuch as the non-existent funding

resources and skills, also the lack of exposure and

opportunity to manage the business.(Malaysia,

2002and Norfadzillah, 2010).

Nonetheless, the government sees women-

Bumiputera as offering more critical contributions

to the national rates of poverty. In Malaysia, the

distribution of residents shows that almost half of

the residents are women, which is 48.4% from the

total number of residentsin the middle of 2013 or

29.9 million (Malaysia Statistics Department,

2014). However, only 15% of women ran their own

businesses (Syed, Zizah & Fauzi, 2012). This demon-

strates that women’s involvement in the field

ofentrepreneurshipis still at low level, although the

government has equipped

variousentrepreneurshipprogrammes to give more

opportunities to women to get involved in the

national economic development and also to reduce

the rates of poverty in this country.

Every year, the government has allocated great

expenditure to increase women’s status of living.

For example in 2010, The Malaysian government

has spent RM 4.7 million to assist 946 women

through a programme called 1Azam (Muhyiddin,

2010). Meanwhile in 2013, RM50 million was

allocated by the government under the

programme I-Kit aiming to help develop women’s

business skills (Mohd Najib, 2012).

Based on the 2010 annual report of the govern-

ment transformational programme (GTP), itshows

that the cooperation between AIM and Women

Development Department (JPW) is evident

through the successful training of 2000 women-

participants in theentrepreneurshipprogram


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comprising of low-income households. As the

outcome, 60% from the overall participantshad

been able to obtain an income totalling RM3500

for 3 months in a row. Also,there are also other

agencies involved in offering women entrepreneur-

ial development programmes such asMalaysian

Small and Medium Industry Corporation (SME

Corp. Malaysia), Malaysian Women-Entrepreneur

Association Affiliation (FEM),National Association

of Women Entrepreneurs, Malaysia (NAWEM).

This agency is held responsible in promoting and

encouraging Malaysian women’s involvement

asentrepreneursother than serving as a platform to

build the relationship among them (Teoh &

Chong, 2007). However, the percentage of women

involved in the field of entrepreneurshipis still low

(Syed, Mohd Fauzi & Norasiah, 2011).

Therefore, this study is done to analyse the

effect ofAIM’s micro-credit financing schemein

creating a strong line of women entrepreneurs. In

particular, it seeks to (1) explore the current social

entrepreneurship model which uses AIM’s micro-

credit financing scheme, (2) to measure the effec-

tiveness of AIM’s micro-credit financing schemeto

women-entrepreneurs; and (3) to analyse the

obstacles and challenges often faced by

womenentrepreneurin relation to thecurrent

AIM’s micro-credit financing scheme.

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORITICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORITICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORITICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORITICAL FRAMEWORKTHE CONTRIBUTION OF MICRO-FINANCING(AIM) TOWARDS NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Although the activities from the micro-financ-

ing scheme appear to be scarce, they have left a

positive effect towards the development of a

country. Through financing offered to the poor, in

general, half of the world’s population hs been

able to have financial services’ basic resources.

Taking the words of a Nobel Prize winner, Milton

Friedman where the poor continues to be poor not

because they are too lazy, but the root of the

problem is because they do not have the resource

to obtain financial loans. Under this pretext, there

is a stronger need for the micro financing scheme

in the country’s development agenda.

The establishment of the micro financing

scheme has given the opportunity to the poor and

the low-income people to work on their own in

creating their own income and to get them out of

the poverty zone; other than that, micro-financing

has also increased their chance to get a better

income and enhance human resource capability

(Manum, 2010).

With the financial capability that they have,

members of AIM are able to generate their own

income using the start-up capital obtained from

AIM’s financing scheme. They are able to improve

their living conditions, able to gain access to better

healthcare and also able to prepare their children’s

school items better. Several studies have been

conducted by Sutoro (1990) in Indonesia, Mosley

(1996) in Bolivia, Dunn (2005) in Bosnia

Herzagovina and Panda (2009) in India, and the

findings show that the same effect is obtained due

to participants’ involvement in the scheme. Such

an impact is not only evident in the financial

impact but also in humanity impact(Mohd Saifol,

Siti Hadijah and Roslan, 2012). Micro-financing is

proven to have been able to assist the participants

in leading better lives and contribute towards

national development. According to Beck et al.

(2004) an exponential finantial growth is able to

increase the income of the poor faste, and it also

spurs the average growth of the GNDP. What is


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striking the most for the poor is that they are able

to generate income and also it takes them out

from the cocoon of poverty(Hisako dan Hamoni,

2009).

WOMEN ANDENTREPRENEURSHIPThe concept ofentrepreneurshipis an initiative

tochange the concept of business as a new effort or

an industry that has the potential to succeed.

Entrepreneurshave to be sensitive to changes and

are always seizing the opportunities, using the skills

and also are bold enough to take risks when

opening up market.

Women entrepreneurship has been acknowl-

edged as an important indicator in economic

growth. Women entrepreneurs are able to create

job opportunities for themselves and for others.

Entrepreneurshipamong women is the position of

women in the society and their role as entrepre-

neurs in the society.All over the world, this shows

that women still represent the minority group of

the society that starts their own businesses or are

self-employed. The low participation of women is

caused by certain obstacles that they need to

overcome in order to get the same opportunities as

the male counterparts. Among the main obstacles

faced by women in the field of entreprenurship are

the types of education, the lack ofrole-

modelinentrepreneurship, family responsibilities,

poor social status, and the lack of access to finance

(OECD, 2004).

In particular, with the improved industrializa-

tion, responsibilities on family and children have

been of utmost importance. Women still lead the

way in family and children upbringing. With the

growth of industrialization and development, child

custody and productive work have become increas-

ingly important issues for women in the labour

market. In advanced countries, workplace is usually

far from home and the work schedule is not really

flexible to allow working women to manage their

children. Thus, women (as it is common for

women to take care of the children) who wish to

workneed to find an alternativefor their children’s

custody and care (Brewster & Rindfuss, 2000).

With children being under proper care, women

are more ready to take any part in the labour

market, includingentrepreneurship. Childcare

enables women to manage their career and func-

tion as a mother. The field ofentrepreneurshiphas

opened doors for women to adopt both roles.

Some of the researchers (Hansen, 1995) discuss

women entrepreneurs in relation to the factor of

“push and pull” in the area of entrepreneurship.

The factor of “push” that propels women to estab-

lish their own businesses includes the issue of

unemployment, lucrative business position for

women and gender discrimination in the area of

work. Previous studies have shown that women’s

decision to become entrepreneurs due to economic

issues, flexible business time and the reduction of

the number of workers in the previous workplaces

have become the reason why women work hard to

set their own small-scale businesses. Other than

that, the desire to work in freedom and self-

awareness, becoming their own boss, and the

desire to create a balanceof concentration towards

business and responsibilities for their families have

exuded some kind of appeal (Cohen dan Mallon,

1999). Other than that, the factor of women’s

attraction tobecome entrepreneurs is caused by the

desire to seek for freedom and to control their

own business operations (Hisrich dan Brush, 1985;

Scott, 1986). This is despite the fact that there are


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many factors which influence women to make

decisions to start their businesses,as there are

several main obstacles that lead to the few women

categories entering business and succeeding.

This imbalance has an implication for economic

growth and national development. Lately, a lot of

women generally become entrepreneurs to estab-

lish their own businesses. The role

ofentrepreneursis acknowledged at the local level,

district and international levels according to their

satge of entrepreneurial development. Entrepre-

neurs also contribute to the economic growth and

development through job opportunities, income

generation and wealth ownership. Wealth owner-

ship reduces the number of people who live with

income below the poverty line.

Past studies show that women’s involvement in

economic activities can empower women in

women’s lives and themselves. Sen (1987) looks

into two approaches where the activities that

generate women’s income can enhance their lives

and their families. First of all, the increased in-

come of the householdand the second is the

increase in women’s contribution towards the

household income. Income can give women a

clearer picture about their personality, wellbeing

and higher contributionsto their families’ eco-

nomic status. Empowering women has a critical

impact towards the national economic profit

(Ditanam & Sebstad, 1989). Women’s economic

activity that contributes to household income

relates to freedom, power and status of women as

enjoyed by men as it influences the perceptions of

who contributes to the family. Free lifestyle and

outdoor income also have some social conse-

quences, crucial in terms if the income and support

(Sen, 1987; Osmani, 1998). Thus, it is clear that

access to micro-credit scheme financing does not

only create wealth and enhance women’s level of

economy but it also makes them more empowered.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIPIN MALAYSIAIn Malaysia, the government really takes seri-

ously women development programmes, where

one of the programmes developed is the women

entrepreneur development programme. This

programme seeks to ensure that women-entrepre-

neurs are not left behind in terms of the national

development and nasional development agenda.

AIM is identified as one of the tools used for the

purpose of increasing the capabilities of women

entrepreneurs in Malaysia.

According to Hamdino, Pazim and Wan Sabri

(2012) poverty eradication program using the

method ofentrepreneurshiphas long been practised

in Malaysia, starting with the introduction ofNew

Economic Policy.Entrepreneurshiphas been prac-

tised to increase the capability of the National

economy. The implementation continues until

today with the introduction ofK- Economy.

The micro-financing scheme practised in Malay-

sia has opened up more opportunity to women to

get involved in the field ofentrepreneurship. AIM

has provided training for women to own entrepre-

neurship skills. Among the training provided by

AIM to its participants are entrepreneurial charac-

ter building, entrepreneurship basic training, basic

skill training and business skill

consolidation(Amanah Iktiar Malaysia, 2011).

The relationship between women and socio-

economic development is indeed, irrefutable.

There is empirical evidence that seeks to measure

the effect of micro financing and women’s capabil-

ity. The study done by Samia (2011) finds that


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women engaged inentrepreneurshipbecome more

confident in managing finance and making deci-

sions in their business activity.

RESEARCH METHODSThis study uses the quantitative approach

through the survey distribution. It is distributed to

participants using the Likert Scale.

The respondents chosen for this study are

participants or borrowers from AIM agencies. 1101

participants were involved as our study sample

involving four zones namely the North, South East

and West. Specifically, respondents involved are

from Pahang, Sabah, Kedah, Perak, Johor, Kuala

Lumpur, Kelantan and Terengganu.

The study instrument involves one (1) set of

survey form to analyse 9 main components related

toentrepreneurship. Questionnaires were formu-

lated based on items’ adaptation in theentre-

preneurshipmodel by Ligthelm (2010). The ques-

tionnaire was divided intonine (9) sections.Section

A was designed to collect information on the

respondents’ demography and Section B covers

respondents’ business information. Next, Sections

C, D, E, F, G, H and I were formulated to measure

the micro-credit scheme itself.

The survey form was divided into 9 sections

containing 65items encompassing 9 main sections,

namely Demography (12 items)Business Informa-

tion (6 items), Entrepreneurship Skills (6 items),

Business Competition (6 items), Small Business

Advantage l(4 items), Government Policy(5 items),

Implementation (12 items), Effectiveness (6 items)

and Business Survival (8 items).

RESULT AND ANALYSISBUSINESS INFORMATION

TABLE 1: BUSINESS INFORMATION

Table 1 above shows the distribution of fre-

quency and percentage for business information

category and factors that cause people to start a

business. Types of business ventured by entrepre-

neurs includegrocery shops, restaurants, cookies or

chips, salon and others. Based on Table 1, the

majority of respondents had other types of busi-

nesses consisting of 690 persons or 62.7%. The

second highest number belongs to cookies or chips

business with 199 persons or 18.1%. This was

followed by restaurant business with 105 persons

(9.5%), grocery shops with 82 persons (7.4%) and

salon with number of respondents of 25 (2.3%).

For the category of factors that encourage

individuals to initiate a business, this includes

personal interest, to improve standard of living,

driven by the surrounding, government’s promo-

tion and government’s aid. Table 1 also shows that

the largest number of respondents chose improv-

ing the standard of living factor which corresponds

to 797 personsor 72.4%. The second largest num-

ber belongs to personal interest factor with 416

persons or 37.8%. While as many as 141 persons

(12.8%) chose driven by the surrounding factor, 63

persons (5.7%) chose government’s aid and 30


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persons (2.7%) chose the government’s promo-

tions.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLSTable 2 clearly shows that the level of agree-

ment is higher than the level of disagreement and

level of uncertainty towards entrepreneurial skills.

Four (4) of the six (6) items in the table indicate a

high level of agreement that exceeds 50% towards

entrepreneurial skills. The majority of respondents

agreed with the item of creating a business plan,

namely 683 person or 62.0%. Besides that, most

respondents also agreed to the item of conducting

a risk analysis before starting a business which

corresponds to 639 persons (58.0%), consider other

ventures before starting a business corresponding

to 611 or (55.5%) and analysing other traders

corresponding to 606 persons (55.0 %). The item

“I can trade anything’ has the lowest level of

agreement which corresponds to 430 persons or

(39.1%) yet showed high levels of uncertainty, with

273 persons, with the percentage of 24.8%.

BUSINESS COMPETITIONTable 3 above clearly shows that the respon-

dents’ level of agreement towards business competi-

tion is higher than the level of disagreement and

level of uncertainty. Based on the findings shown

in Table 3, all items showed a high level of agree-

ment that exceeds 50% towards the elements of

business competition. The majority of respondents

agreed that the offered businesses choose a com-

fortable environment which corresponds to 636

persons or (57.8%). Besides that, a total of 618

TABLE 2: ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS

TABLE 3: BUSINESS COMPETITION


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person or 56.1% agreed that their businesses offer

better customer service and 613 persons or 55.7%

agreed that their businesses offer products of better

quality. Table 3 shows the item ‘business is selling

the same product with other businesses’ recorded

the highest number of persons that disagreed

namely 177 persons (16.1%). Meanwhile, the item

‘the location of my business is more strategic’

recorded the highest number of uncertainty which

corresponds to 199 persons or (18.1%).

THE ADVANTAGE OF SMALL INDUSTRIESBased on Table 4, the research findings also

clearly show that the level of agreement is higher

than the level of uncertainty and level of disagree-

ment among respondents towards the advantage of

small industries. The results showed that all four

(4) items have a high level of agreement that

exceeds 50% in the element of the advantage of

small industries. The item ‘theprice of my business

products is negotiable to attract customers’ and

items ‘I can diversify my products’ has the highest

number of 630 persons or 57.2% respectively.

Meanwhile, the item ‘my business environment is

more safe and secure’ recorded 625 persons or

(56.8%) who agreed and the item ‘my business

hours are longer and flexible in order to attract

customers’ recorded agreement from 603 persons

or (54.8%). Despite having a high level of agree-

ment, the item ‘my business hours are longer and

flexible in order to attract customers’ also recorded

the highest level of uncertainty with 164 persons or

(14.9%).

TABLE 4: THE ADVANTAGE OF SMALL INDUSTRIES

TABLE 5: GOVERNMENT’S POLICIES


○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

GOVERNMENT’S POLICIESTable 5 clearly shows that the level of agree-

ment is higher compared to the level of disagree-

ment and level of uncertainty towards

government’s policies. Three (3) out of five (5)

items in Table 5 show high level of agreement that

exceeds 50% towards government’s policy. The

majority of respondents agreed with the item

‘government assists Bumiputera entrepreneurs to

start their own business with 573 persons or

52.0%. In addition, many respondents also agreed

with the item ‘government support is given to

those who venture into potential businesses’ with

562 persons or (51.0%) and the item ‘government

assists Bumiputera entrepreneurs in expanding

their business’ with 559 persons or (50.8%). The

item ‘financial assistance programs (microcredit)

has managed to produce more Bumiputera entre-

preneurs’ has the lowest level of agreement of 529

persons or (48.0%) but showed high levels of

uncertainty, namely a total of 95 persons with a

percentage of 8.6%.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMBased on Table 6, the research findings show

that there are two (2) types of program implemen-

tation that have been carried out in terms of

training and loans. Table 6 above clearly shows

that the level of agreement of respondents towards

training is higher than the level of disagreement

and level of uncertainty. Based on the findings,

three (3) out of the four (4) items exhibit a high

level of agreement that exceeds 50% of the train-

ing element. Most of the respondents agreed that

TABLE 6: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAM


○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

entrepreneur development programs can increase

the number of Bumiputera entrepreneur participa-

tion which corresponds to 615 persons or 55.9%.

In addition, a total of 609 persons or 55.3% of the

course agreed to use methods that are easily under-

stood and 576 people representing 52.3% agreed

that entrepreneurship courses have helped their

business. The item ‘course organized were carried

out in sufficient period’ has the lowest level of

agreement totalling 531 persons or (48.2%), but it

showed a high level of uncertainty namely with

282 persons or 25.6%.

Table 6 clearly shows that the level of agree-

ment is higher than the level of disagreement and

level of uncertainty towards the loan element.

Seven (7) out of eight (8) items in the table indicate

high level of agreement that exceed 50% regarding

loan aspect. Majority of the respondents agreed

with the item ‘the sum of loan offered is reason-

able with the loan period’ with 713 persons or

64.8%. Besides that, most of the respondents also

agreed with the item ‘advice given by the officer

helps me in carrying my business’ with 710 persons

or (64.5%) and the item ‘the offered loan period is

reasonable with the type of businesses with 684

persons or (62.1%). The item ‘tight lending proce-

dures are imposed on Bumiputera entrepreneurs

who want to expand their business’ recorded the

level of agreement that is less than 50% which

corresponds to 491 persons or (44.6%) but showed

a high level of uncertainty with 177 persons with a

percentage of 16.1%.

TABLE 7: EFFECTIVENESS

TABLE 8: THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS


○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

EFFECTIVENESSTable 7 clearly shows that respondents’ level of

agreementtowards effectiveness is higher than the

level of disagreement and level of uncertainty.

Based on research findings as shown in Table 7, all

items showed high level of agreement that exceed

50% towards the elements of effectiveness. The

majority of the respondents agreed that monitor-

ing conducted by the officials have smoothen their

business which corresponds to 687 persons or

(62.4%). In addition, a total of 690 persons or

62.7% agreed thatthe loans granted to them can

be fully utilized for their business and 678 persons

or 61.6% agreed with the item ‘period of loans

offered is appropriate’. Meanwhile, the highest

number of uncertainty level recorded by the item

‘entrepreneurship courses organized had improved

the performance of my business’with 180 persons

or who represent 16.3%.

THE FUTURE OF BUSINESSBased on Table 8, one (1) item has a disagree-

ment level higher than the level of agreement and

level of uncertainty whereas another two (2) items

showhigher level of agreement compared to level

of disagreement and level of uncertainty towards

the future of business among respondents. Based

on Table 8, the research findings show that the

level of disagreement is highest on the item ‘my

business cannot continue and will be closed’ which

corresponds to 431 persons or 39.1%. In contrast, a

total of 597 persons or (54.2%) agreed that their

business can continue but they need financial

assistance with 615 persons (55.9%) agreeing that

their business would be viable and has the poten-

tial to succeed.

CONCLUSIONFindings obtained from this study show that

most women entrepreneurs agree that micro-credit

schemes have been successful in improving their

lives through entrepreneurship which they have

ventured. However, they suggest that

businessknowledge such as business planning and

risk analysis is also included in the compulsory

courses organized by AIM. This is because, most

women entrepreneurs are aware about the exist-

ence of fierce competition in the business hence

they should always learn more aboutthe business,

so that they are able to be competitive in the long

term.

Entrepreneurship through microcredit schemes

possess several advantages to small-scale businesses

in a way that it can diversify product and the price

offered is negotiable to attract customers. In

addition, it is observed that government’s aid could

help entrepreneurs to start or expand their busi-

nesses. The implementation of micro-credit

schemes may also increase the number of entrepre-

neurs and help women entrepreneurs via advice

and ongoing monitoring from corresponding

parties. Next, the micro-credit financing scheme

would determine the business viability among

womanBumiputera entrepreneurs. The majority of

women entrepreneurs have the potential to suc-

ceed and continue their business with financial

assistance given upon them.

Moreover, women entrepreneurs find there are

some challenges in micro credit financing scheme,

namely in terms of loan repayment methods in

which each member must bear the cost of other

members who failed to make proper payment.

This situation further burdens other members in

which they have to bear the debt of the other


○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

members, as well as required to make payments for

their own loan.

Generally, micro-credit financing scheme is seen

to be helping women entrepreneurs to sustain

their businesses, but it can be further improved

through several approaches. Firstly, most of the

loaned capital and training given to entrepreneurs

have not been systematically evaluated to measure

the effectiveness of the programs offered. A study

conducted by the Global Entrepreneurship Moni-

tor (GEM) on business environment in Malaysia

found that aspects of monitoring and evaluation

from government are weak in terms of

policiesmade which have prevented the formation

of new businesses, government regulation and

bureaucracy, such as business license requirements

which preclude the existence of a new business to

grow. This situation has raised doubts among the

public on the seriousness and effectiveness of

government in supporting and encouraging the

growth of businesses. (Teoh & Cheong, 2007).

Secondly, although as a whole, there are various

entrepreneurship programs in the form of both

financial and non-financial, programs which focus

on women’s entrepreneurship are still limited.

Therefore, more initiatives should be undertaken

to empower women by introducing alternative

entrepreneurship programs in accordance with the

needs and background of women entrepreneurs.

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investigation on the impact of microcredit on

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IndexAAbdullah Al-Mamun Achmad Hardiman Achmad Hardiman. Adang Djaha, Ade Rosita Lakmi Adrian Kurniady AGRAAldri Frinaldi Aliansi Jurnalis Independen Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africaamor propioAndres, Thomas D. Ansano M. Ampog Arfani, Riza Noer. Ariani, M. ASEAN

BBadan Pengawas PemiluBalikatanBangladesh Banks, J. A. Bautista, V. A. BawasluBayanihanBourdieu, P.

CCambodia Caucus of Development NGO Networks CEDAW Celebes Center for Electoral ReformCentral JavaCentral Sulawesi Che Supiah ChesheCODENGO Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination aga Comprehensive Land Use Plan Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Disc Creswell, John.

DD.H. Darwanto, Dahlerup Dasman LaninDavies, D. R. Dede Prandana Putra DemocracyDemocrat Party Denhardt, Robert, B. Denmark Department of EducationDiana Irine Dini SuryaniDoi MoiDPRDDungu

Eelection monitoring organisationsEntrepreneurs Empowerment

FFAO Felix de Calderon FUNCINPEC

GGABRIELA Gender Resource Information and Development Centre General Assembly Binding Women for Reform, IntegriGhanaGlobal Entrepreneurship Monitor Global Gender Equality Regimes Globalisation GrameenBank

HHarbani Pasolong Higher National Diploma Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council

IIligan City SchoolIndonesiaIndonesia Corruption WatchIndonesian Political Party Law IRRI

JJaringan Pendidikan Pemilih untuk Rakyat Johor

KKawal PemiluKedah Kelantan Kenya KIPPKobayashi, K. Komisi Pemilihan Umum Komite Independen Pelaksanaan Pemilu Kuala Lumpur Kung, Edwin W.

LLampungLanao Del SurLao People's Democratic Republic

MMalasakitMalaysia, Marawi CityMasaraMasri Singarimbun Mata MassaMDGsMen Sam AnMillennium Development GoalsMohamed Zaini Muhamad Ali Muhyiddin Yassin Mutilan, Mahid M.

NNairobi National Association of Women Entrepreneurs, Malay Nepal New Economic Policy New OrderNewmann Newstrom, John W. Nieto, S. Nigeria non-governmental organisations Nor Fazidah North SumatraNorway

OOxford

PPadangpagbabahala pakikipagkapwa pakikisama pakikitungo Pakistan Palispis Parent-Teachers' Community Association People Power Revolution Perak philanthropyPhilippinesPrabowo

RRahayu., E. S. Regional Land Use Committee Rice Grain rror Correction Model Rural DevelopmentRusastra, I.W.

SSabah Saifullah, A. SingaporeSoutheast AsiaStark, Rodney Suharto SumatraSweden Syed Shah Alam Syed Zamberi Ahmad

TTamale tapang or tibay ng loob Terengganu ThailandThe Australian National UniversityThe Centre of Southeast Asian Studies Tim Obyektif Pemantau Pemilu Timor LesteTran Thi Que Typhoon

UUganda UNFREL University Network for Free Elections utang na loob

Vventure philanthropy Vietnam

WWest SumatraWidarjono, A. World Bank

ZZimbabwe Zulkarnain A. Hatta

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